I have a 2003 ford f350 crewcab v 10 truck . for the past 3 months the keys to start the ignition dont work very well . the ignition wont turn to start the motor. well, things got worse ,I was 300 miles from any ford dealer and the ignition switch wont work . I tried everything to get the key to turn ,nothing worked. luckily, I found a phone and called ford trouble line . they said to put my emergency brake on , push the brakes hard while turning the steering wheel hard to the left. bingo, the ignition worked temporily,enough to get home. however ,the keys still dont work and I have had to park the truck in neutral with the keys left in it . Does any one know what is wrong with my truck? I plan on taking it in soon but would like to know if anyone could shed some light on this weird problem.

 

Not a pro on this, but a bent actuator rod is a possibility.

Not real familair with the SD design, but that is what I would look for on my truck if it did that.

BTW, welcome to FTE and I am sure that someone with more confidence will either confirm or correct my guess.

 

There are a couple of systems designed to interfere with the ignition lock.

First is the security system. This is simply a mechanical lock that is activated when the key is removed from the ignition. Once activated, if you attempt to turn the steering wheel it will lock to prevent someone from steering the vehicle without the key. When the steering lock is engaged, it always applies pressure on the ignition switch that will make it difficult to turn. Thus you need to turn the steering wheel a little bit one direction or the other to relieve this pressure on the ignition switch when starting. This only needs to be done if the steering wheel lock has engaged, which normally isn't very often and that's why many forget about this when they can't turn the key.

The second system is the safety system. This one prevents you from turning the key to start the vehicle unless your foot is depressing the brake pedal. This is to prevent unitended movement of the vehicle at startup. This system will also usually prevent you from removing the key if the transmission is not in Park (on an automatic transmission equipped vehicle).

If either of these systems are out of alignment or have bent actuating rods, etc., they could cause the symptoms that you're seeing. The ignition lock itself could also be the source of the problem.

Whatever the cause, your service department shouldn't have any diffuculty in repairing this for you.

 

I had the same problem, I forgot to shift into "Park" (I left it in Drive, dumb move that was).
If it isn't anything mentioned above, I'd have it serviced.

 

It should still be under warranty, so no matter what the problem is, a dealer should fix it for free.